It’s time to go home! What about your stuff?

Summer is approaching and, if you are a first-year student and/or living in halls of residence, it is almost time to move out of your place. To me, it is moment I dread most out of the whole year because you can never estimate how many belongings you actually have and how tiring packing will be. Being an EU student, I have to rely on storage companies every year, since there is no point for me to bring back and forth items I need here, during the academic year.

Therefore, if you don’t have a permanent residence in the U.K. and won’t live in a house – whose landlord usually allows you to store your stuff even before the start of your rent contract, you will most likely need to plan ahead and store your goods elsewhere. Around Manchester, there are many storage companies and they usually provide you with the boxes, storage space in their warehouse and delivery service to your new accommodation. The pricing usually works as price per box per week and it varies from store to store.

When packing, what it is most important is to select what you want to take back home, store or throw away. Usually, you can store winter clothes, duvet and pillows but they can occupy quite a lot of space, so it would be best to use vacuum bags to save some space (since boxes are not counted for their weight, anyways!). To save money, it would be great to store away your kitchenware so that you don’t have to buy it every single year. And it goes without saying, foodstuffs that are easily perishables should be thrown away or donated to local charities. The same works for dried and unopened goods that are perfect for donation. Moreover, each dorm usually provides clothing recycling bins which are a good way to get rid of clothes you don’t wear anymore. You can even reach out to local charities, like Oxfam, to donate stuff or, even better, you can try selling them on eBay to earn some extra cash (to pay for your storage fee, for example!).

Before moving out of your room, make sure to clean everything and that you leave it in a good condition, so that you won’t have to pay for extra fees later. Also, remember to save all the details from the storage company to easily get in touch with them once you come back for the new academic year.

Packing and moving out can be quite a stressful process, but if you have a clear idea of what to do and when to do it, then it is more than doable. Extra tip: call your friends for a helping hand so that you don’t have to do everything by yourself and it can be more fun, too!

Here are some storage companies in Manchester, but you can find more on bulletin boards in your dorm or around campus.